[Lal]

Welcome to the forum!

It is difficult to recommend exactly which posts to read first, because each person is different and has one’s own unique background.

The following post could be useful:
User’s Guide to Pure Dhamma Website

The following one could be a good resource too:
Pure Dhamma – Sitemap

Please feel free to ask questions as you proceed. May be we can recommend some posts based on your questions.

[Lal]

“Perhaps I should start, instead of trying to meditate on abstract concepts like “good” and “love” (I’ve always had trouble with abstractions like math and emotion), and instead try to do sitting meditation sessions while slowly feeling and pinching my belly fat etc and thinking about all the health issues that accompany THIS, not just what I HAVE but what I COULD like diabetes and heart attacks, both of which (like predisposition towards depression and similar mental illnesses) run in the family from BOTH SIDES…”

Yes. This is the key. The Buddha emphasized that the best way to remove cravings is to see the bad consequences of them:
Assāda, Ādīnava, Nissarana

Until one gets rid of the strong cravings (with determination), it is not even possible to grasp Dhamma concepts, because one’s mind is burdened too much tāpa or heat in the mind).

For example, those who do not see the bad consequences of taking drugs will never be able to comprehend Dhamma, until they get rid of that habit. Excess craving for food is below that but not too far below.

[Lal]

y not said: “I ask this because the Buddha on more than one occasion stated that such-and-such a person has ascended to a particular realm ‘and will attain release from there’.

It is true that the Buddha has made such statements regarding SPECIFIC individuals.
When people asked him “what is the gati, what is the birth of so and so who just died?”, the Buddha may have said, he had attained the Sakadagami stage before dying and that he will born in a deva realm and attain Nibbana from there.
That is because the Buddha can see that for that individual.

That does not mean it will happen to any Sakadagami. The general rule is that a Sakadagami will not be born again in the human or lower realms and will be born only once in a deva realm. If he/she does not attain Arahanthood there, he/she will be born in a higher realms(s) and attain Nibbana in the future, without ever coming back to the kama loka.

[Lal]

Actually, the way it is written seems to be OK to me. May be I am missing something?

When you say, “Otherwise, it says “keep doing” the same old bad habit.”
I don’t think I said to keep doing the same old habit.

[Lal]

Nimitta is used in two different ways:

One is a “sign” that comes to the mind as a kamma vipaka, especially close to the cuti-patisandhi moment when one is about to grasp a new bhava. That is the one discussed in the post.

The second is actually not in Buddha Dhamma, but was incorporated to Buddha Dhamma in the Visuddhimagga by Buddhaghosa. Hindu yogis did anariya kasina bhavana taking some object (ball of clay, dish of water, a light, etc) as the kasina object. This kasina object is also called a nimitta.

1 user thanked author for this post.

LayDhammaFollower

[Lal]

I just came across this old post which could be helpful for you to stay focused on your new plan of action:
How Habits are Formed and Broken – A Scientific View

[Lal]

Congratulations!
Keep it up!

[Lal]

Good plan, Eric.
I hope you will have the will power to stick to the plan.

Yes. It may be a good idea to switch back and forth between Abhidhamma and Living Dhamma sections. The Living Dhamma section starts with basic concepts, but goes to very deep levels in later subsections.

[Lal]

Hello y not,

I missed the spouse! I may get into trouble with my wife.
It should be parents, spouse, children, siblings, extended family and friends, etc.

Of course, this is not a set order. This is actually what I believe the order is for me. For another person, a close friend may come much closer, for example.

So, don’t take this order too seriously. Parents definitely come first, because they are the ones who gave us a chance to be born with a human body. There are billions of human gandhabbas waiting for a suitable womb. Killing a parent is an anantariya kamma and killing any other (except for an Arahant) is not. Of course, killing an Arahant comes under a different category based on Arahant‘s moral standing.

[Lal]

Very impressive!!
You seem to be making good progress in Sinhala. Is it helping with Pali words yet?

[Lal]

Hello Donna,
Yes. We have to fulfill our obligations to others while working on our own spiritual development. So, it is always a balance. Things change unexpectedly and we have to do our best accordingly. As we fully well know, this is the anicca nature.

Paying debts is a part of making progress too. In this life, we are mostly indebted to our parents, children, extended family and friends, etc in that order. In the next life, it will be different set, where we will pay debts to the next in line.

However, one thing that I have noticed is that when we do our best to fulfill our obligations, things seem to get better over time too. I think you made the right decision to leave the monastery to help your aging Dad. It is a meritorious deed. If you did not do that you could have been stressed out about it.

There is a story in the Tipitaka that I heard from a desana from Waharaka Thero. The parents of a bhikkhu became old and became helpless. The bhikkhu started to share whatever he received in his alms round each day with his parents. Other bhikkhus complained to the Buddha about this action. The Buddha actually praised that bhikkhu and approved his action.

There was also an instant where one bhikkhu became ill and became helpless with other bhikkhus avoiding him. The Buddha himself went there to take care of the bhikkhu and admonished the other bhikkhus of their misbehavior.

So, we should always try to live a balanced life. Things will work out at the end.

[Lal]

Hello Eric,

I am glad to hear that you have made some progress and that you are determined to stick with a plan. Doesn’t it feel good to be in a clean environment? That makes the mind calmer.

You will get more incentive to stick to the plan when you start seeing more results. Remember that progress is slow in the beginning, just like it is hard to get a stalled car moving. But once it picks up some speed, it becomes much easier.

Also, if you like the Abhidhamma section, stick with it and don’t hesitate to ask questions. There is an Abhidhamma forum.

Also, try to cut down on videos and loud music gradually. Even though acquired knowledge can reduce that tendency, it will be much easier if you enforce some discipline. For example, no matter how advanced one is, one will not be able to do any critical thinking in an environment with many distractions.

If you can, try to spend a specified time without those distractions. Try to gradually increase that time.

[Lal]

I am glad that you found them useful, firewns.

If you have any questions on those audios, there is a separate forum to ask questions on them: “Three Marks of Existence Discourses”.

[Lal]

“As I understand it, kusala kamma involves and is the PROCESS of getting rid (in time)of the kilesas, not that being rid of the kilesas in the first place is the condition on which one performs kusala kamma. If it were so, kusala kamma would be reserved for Arahants.”

Good observation, y not.

[Lal]

“How does one lose amoha, if it is the absence of moha, a cause of existence? For example, Nibbana is permanent and eternal, simply because it is the absence of all causes, and thus is timeless and cannot perish.”

Amoha simply means “absence of moha” at that particular time. One can act without moha (mind covered with defilements) a certain time and can act with moha at other times when tempted by an appealing sense object.
– However, a mind “not covered by defilements” does not necessarily mean one knows the real nature of this this world, i.e., Tilakkhna (that it is absolutely nothing fruitful to be had in this world).
– This is the essential point to be understood in getting to the Noble Path, i.e., to become a Sotapanna.

“If amoha is not a cetasika, but the panna cetasika is cultivated instead, what is removed?”

Again, it is important to realize that one can act with amoha with moha REMAINING hidden in the mind as an anusaya. As long as one has moha anusaya, one can act with moha OR amoha depending on the sense input.
– Let us take an example to clarify this point: Person X with moha anusaya may see a drowning person Y, generate compassion, jumps into water and save Y. So, at that particular time, X acted without moha.
– However, when one cultivates panna, one will not be acting with moha AT ANY TIME. That person has removed moha anusaya, and thus will not go back and forth between moha and amoha.
– This is the uniqueness in Buddha Dhamma: to realize that one cannot be PERMANENTLY moral, until one comprehends Tilakkhana, the futility of things in this world.

“In essence, how can the absence of a cause of existence itself be another cause of existence?”
– But as I explained in the post, amoha (without panna) IS A CAUSE for existence. It gives rise to rebirths in the “good realms”.
– I am glad that firewrns asked these questions. These are subtle points that need to be contemplated on and understood. That is how one’s understanding can become complete: CONTEMPLATION. That is insight mediation. It may be helpful to do a search on “anusaya gathi gati” (because I have spelled gati sometimes as gathi) and read the relevant posts.
– Anusaya and gati can be REMOVED only by cultivating panna. Essentially, anusaya and gati CANNOT be removed without comprehending the real nature of this world, Tilakkhana: anicca, dukkha, anatta. You may also want to listen to: Three Marks of Existence – English Discourses

Finally, regarding the post in question ynot pointed out a mistake that I made: “without getting rid of moha rather than of amoha?” that appeared in #8 of that post.
– I just fixed it. Thanks, ynot.

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